Arrangement in wall and ceiling panellings consisting of elongated troughshaped thin-walled elements



July 26, 1960 J FISCHER 2,946,415

ARRANGEMENT IN WALL AND CEILING PANELLINGS CONSISTING OF ELONGATED TROUGH-SHAPED THIN-WALLED ELEMENTS Filed Dec. 17. 1957 ln emor. Jean Fischer 7 & flf/omex nited States Patent ARRANGEMENT IN WALL AND CEILING PANEL- LINGS CONSISTING OF ELONGATED TROUGH- 5 SHAPED THIN-WALLED ELEMENTS Jean Fischer, Skt. Clemens, Denmark Filed Dec. 17, 1957, Ser. No. 703,357

Claims priority, application Denmark Jan. 28, 1957 1 Claim. (Cl. 18986) For sound-deadening purposes in rooms, wallor ceiling-panellings are often usedwhich comprise rectangular plates or boards of a suitably porous material e.g. wood fibre boards. The mounting of such plates is, however, rather cumbersome, and plates of this type furthermore present a considerable risk of fire. Particularly for these reasons builders have of late to a steadily increasing degree switched over to using sound-deadening panellings consisting of elements of aluminum plate or some similar thin, incombustible material in combination with a fibrous sound-deadening material which is likewise incombustible and which lies concealed behind the panelling formed by the elements. In a known sound-deadening panelling of this type, each of the elements consists of a channel of U-shaped cross section, the cavity of which facing the ceiling is filled with sound-deadening material. A suitable number of such channels, e.g. eight, are mounted parallel to each other and with a certain spacing in a common rectangular carrying frame which in a suitable way is secured to the ceiling. The mounting of such a sounddeadening panelling is rather cumbersome, and the U- shaped channels cannot be removed singly from the finished panelling, e.g. for exchange after being damaged or to give access to the space located between the panelling and the ceiling, which space may contain technical installations of diiferent kinds.

Furthermore, a wall panelling is known (from the U.S.A. Patent No. 2,250,764) intended for external use and comprising a number of elongated elements which are curved in the transverse direction and are mounted with the cavity facing the wall face and at their longitudinal edges are provided with flanges bent outwardlp and inwardly, respectively, from the main portion of the element. The edge portion of the outwardly bent flange is bent over in the direction away from the wall face to form a pocket for accommodating the flat, inwardly- 50 bent flange on the adjacent element, and the mounting of the element is performed by the bent-over edge portion being brought into hook-engagement with a number ofresilient, hook-shaped holding lugs secured to vertical carrying rails on the wall face. The hook-shaped holding lugs and the flange with the bent-over edge portion form together a kind of snap-action lock which cannot be released without a more or less complete destruction of the elements or the holding lugs. In this known construction it is furthermore stressed that the engagement between the flanges of the elements is an immovable engagement because the elements together form a tight outer covering on a wooden wall.

The invention relates to a wall or ceiling-panelling of the last mentioned type, viz. panellings in which elon- 65 gated, channel-shaped, thin-walled panel elements, each of which at one longitudinal edge is provided with a flange that is inwardly directed in relation to the channel profile and at the other longitudinal edge with an outwardlydirected flange, are mounted side by side with their concave sides facing the wall or ceiling and with overlapping relationship between the inwardly-directed flange of one panel element and the outwardly-directed flange of the adjacent element, the panel elements being in this position secured to carrying rails located transversely to the elements and provided with projecting holding lugs engaging behind the mutually overlapping flanges.

As compared with the known structure of this type, the aim of the invention is to ensure an easily releasable locking of the individual elements to the carrying wallor ceiling-face, but this locking should, however, at the same time be of such a nature that it cannot be released unintentionally or cause vibration noise due to oscillations in the elements.

This object has according to the invention been achieved bp the outwardly-directed flange being substantially flat, while the inwardly-directed flange in the direction towards its free edge diverges from the overlapping, outwardlydirected flange. As will be further explained in the follow-ing, the locking is not in this case due to any resilience in the holding lugs. After the inwardly-directed flange of an element has been brought into engagement with the holding lugs, the flat outwardly-directed flange of the adjacent element is inserted between the carrying rails and the free side of the former flange, whereupon this flange due to its divergency from the substantially flat flange will be prevented from being disengaged from the holding lugs. This locking may, however, be eliminated by the substantially flat flange being withdrawn from the Zone of the holding lugs, the said withdrawal requiring only a slight deformation of the element having said flat flange.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the distance from the free edge of the inwardly-directed flange to the overlapping, outwardly-directed flange is equal to the thickness of this flange. If the distance is smaller, the locking eifect will be correspondingly less secure, and if the distance is perceptibly larger, it will be impossible to make the bent-over flange engage the holding lugs without a deformation of the material.

According to the invention it is furthermore to be preferred that the inwardly-directed flange is of substantially circular-arc-shaped cross section and abuts on a correspondingly curved portion of the holding lugs. Hereby a comparatively large contact face between the flange and the lugs is obtained, and the risk of possible damage to the elements during their mounting and dismounting is reduced to a minimum.

The invention will in the following be further described with reference to the accompanying drawing on which:

Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatical illustration of an embodiment of a ceiling panelling according to the invention in vertical section transversely to the elements of the panelling,

Fig. 2 a similar section on a large scale in the region of a holding lug on the carrying rail, and

Fig. 3 a cross section through this carrying rail on the same scale as Fig. 2.

In the embodiment of the panelling according to the invention shown on the drawing, the panelling is secured to a ceiling face, not shown, to which, e.g. by means of screws, a number of equidistant carrying rails 1 are clamped which, as appears most clearly from Fig. 3, are of substantially U-shaped cross section and at the bottom are provided with holding lugs 2, the gaps of which all face the same way, see Fig. 1. These holding lugs may be slightly resilient, and their height is substantially less than the depth of the rails or channels 1.

The panelling proper is formed by a number of parallel, trough-shaped or channel-shaped thin-walled elements 3, e.g. of perforated aluminium plate, and each 0 of these elements is at one side provided with an outwardly-directed flange 4 and at the other side with an inwardly-directed flange 5, Fig. 2. The flanges 4 are substantially plane or flat and extend into the gap or pocket between the underside of the bottom 6 of the U-shaped carrying rail 1 and the upper side of the free end portion 7 ofthe. lugs 2. The flange 4 does not, however, rest directly on this end portion 7,'the inwardlybent flange of the adjacent element 3 being inserted between the flange 4 and the end portion 7 of the lug. From Fig. 2 it appears that the distance from the upper side of the end portion 7 of a holding lug 2 to the underside of the bottom 6 of the particular carrying rail, or the width of the throat of the pocket formed by the lug 2, corresponds to the sum of the wall thicknesses x and y of the two flanges 4 and 5 respectively. Furthermore it will be seen that thefree edge portions of the two flanges 4 and 5 diverge from each other reckoned from the point of contact of the flanges, and as the holding lugs, as mentioned above, are only slightly resilient, this divergency of the free edge portions of the flanges causes a locking, as quite obviously the flange 5 cannot be slid to the left as long as the flange 4 remains in its place. The element 3' shown to the left in Fig. 2 must be supposed at its left hand side to be provided with an inwardly-bent flange corresponding to the flange 5 on the element 3 shown in Fig. 2, and this consequently means that the flange 4 of the left hand element cannot unintentionally be displaced to the left and that the said locking eflect consequently cannot be released unintentionally, e.g. by accidental vibrations or shocks.

The inwardly-bent flange 5 is of circular are shaped cross section and complementarily overlaps the end portion 7 of the lug 2 which is also circular are shaped in cross section. The flange 5 extends into the gap or pocket formed by the lug 2 to a point where the width z of the pocket is substantially equal to the width of its throat increased by the thickness x of flange 4. In other words, the values x, y and z are so related that z=2x+y.

The mounting of the panelling explained will normally be performed in the direction from right to left in Fig. 1. The element first mounted is placed with its flanges 4 and 5 in engagement with the associated holding lugs 2, and above the inwardly-bent flange of the element thus mounted there will be so much clearance that the outwardly-bent flange 4 on the succeeding element can easily be slid in.

As mentioned above, each of the elements of the panelling can be separately dismounted, and this is performed in the following way: When the element 3a in Fig. 1 is to be dismounted, a pressure to the left is exerted on the right hand side of the adjacent element 3b, so that this element 3b will tape approximately the' cross section shown in dotted lined. Hereby the outwardly-bent flange 4 of the element is released from the associated holding lug, so that the element as a whole can be swung around the point of suspension on the holding lug 2. by virtue of the fact that flange 5 and portion 7 of the holding lug 2 complementarlly overap each other in the assembled position whereby flange 5 is allowed to ride over portion 7 as the panel is swung about its point of suspension.

This flange 5, however, remains locked as explained above, but after this part release of the element 3b the element 3a can be freely displaced to the left and removed, its inwardly-bent flange being no longer arrested by the flange 4 on the adjacent element 3b. In the case of re-mounting, the element 3a -is first to be mounted in the normal way, whereupon the element 3b is once more put in pace. 7

During the dismounting of the element 3a described the inwardly-bent flange 5, see Fig. 2, on the element 3b will quite obviously perform a sliding motion inwards 0n the end portion 7 of the lug 2, whereby the distance 2 is increased, and this requires that the divergency between the two flanges 5 and 4 be increased, so that the flange 5 is temporarily locked very effectively. This is of very great importance, the fact being that the element 3b is to remain in place, but should nevertheless be temporarily released at its flange 4.

It is clear that a panelling like that described need not be mounted on a ceiling, but may for example also be mounted on a vertical wall surface. If it be desired, sound-quenching material may be placed in the cavities of the elements, and the elements may also be used for concealing technical installations of diflferent kinds.

I claim:

A panelling for an internal surface of a building, comprising a plurality of parallel elongated panel elements of channel formation, carrying rails having a plurality of holding lugs which are slightly resilient, said panel elements each having first and second flanges along opposite edges, the second flanges of each panel element overlying the first flanges of adjacent panel elements, said holding lugs forming pockets within which said overlapping first and second flanges of said elements are received, the height of said holding lugs being substantially less than the depth of the channels of the panel elements, said second flange being substantially plane whereas said first flange comprises a portion the transverse section of which is circular are shaped such that at its free edge said first flange diverges from the overlapping second flange, and said pockets having a throat of a width corresponding with the total thickness of said overlapping flanges at their point of contact, and a widened portion behind said throat, one side wall of said throat being References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,963,583 Jenkins June 19, 1934 2,073,036 Voigt Mar. 9, 1937 2,818,948 Jones Jan. 7, 1958 2,820,535 Hutchison Jan. 21, 1958 

